Last week I removed the K&N air filters from my 86 F250 4x4 460C.I.-- 02 Dakota 4x4 4.7. and I have noticed that the FORD runs abit better, and the DAKOTA got a few tenth better gas mileage. I must say I was alittle surprised I have run K&Ns for several years now, but now I will most likely stay with paper.
REMOVED K&N AIR FILTERS
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Best thing you could have done! I like K&N but only for racing purposes.
One of my cars came from the factory with a K&N on it and it's been doing just fine, normal Si levels in the UOA.
I put a K&N on my motorcycle as part of my exhaust / rejetting work and it too has been doing well with below average Si levels in the UOA.
So it seems to me while some people report problems with these K&N air filters, they do indeed work well in at least some applications.
I agree wholeheartedly.
Regarding "working well in some applications". That is the problem.. Which ones and do in fact they really work? Simply looking at spectro results will NOT tell the full story. I review hundreds of oil analysis results a day an in most "dirt alerts", the K&N air filter is the cause of the high dirt. I have reviewed many spectro results which showed relatively low silicon levels however particle counts were through the roof. Spectro only looks at particles smaller than 5 microns. Much of what a K&N allows to bypass is indeed the larger particle size and thus undetected via spectro analysis..
George Morrison
George Morrison
I find it amusing that some of the same people who obcess over oil quality, oil change intervals and oil filter build quality will run with a K&N gauze filter. Then they declare that it's a good filter because their engine didn't wear out in xx,xxx miles.
Patman
Staff member
A K&N air filter is not even going to give you any noticeable horsepower benefits at all, so I can't see the purpose of running these filters. You're just taking too many chances of allowing dirt into your engine, and getting no other benefit in return. It's a lose/lose situation.
While that's true with the factory airbox, in a case like my neon i'm forced to use a K&N because i'm using a cold-air type setup.
Patman
Staff member
In a case like that you should look into getting one of those foam filter wraps which will help trap more dirt. It's funny because K&N actually makes them! (so even they are admitting that their filters need help!)
I had the cold air setup on my Integra, but then I started asking myself, "is a cool noise maker that yields 2 whp really worth it?"
Yeah, "dyno proven" by the people that are trying to sell you their product. There are ways of making a dyno plot look better than it actually is. Also, that 9 hp might be at the flywheel; however, even 15% tranny loss giving say 7ish whp seems overly optomistic (on an import anyway).
How close together did you have the dyno runs done and what correction factors did they make?
What type of dyno?
What condition was your stock air cleaner element in when you had the dyno run made with the stock filter?
Usually, if the horsepower claim an aftermarket company makes is actually real, they quote max horsepower gain, not peak power. So the big gain the quote may be 50 rpm from bouncing off the revlimiter, but the peak hp gain may be only 1 or 2 hp. You may never feel a thing below your mid rpm range and short ram intakes usually loose hp and tq below a certain rpm, of which you spend 95 % of your time at when driving.
Pretty pointless to pay 300 bucks to hear that horendous intake growl that might actually be costing you a few ponies. Several Hondas/Acuras that run in Grand Am cup racing use stock or slightly modified Japanese market type R intake boxes in their racecars because they work fine.
http://www.knfilters.com/images/typhoon/charts/03Matrix1.8L.jpg
And that is at the wheels of an auto tranny car. I saw a dyno of it that was independently done on a dynojet by someone at matrixowners. The numbers aggreed for the most part. The K&N shortram actually produces real world numbers close to or even with cold air intakes.
--Matt
I by K&N becuase i can clean mine. In my case air filters for my vehicles run from $10-12 so it is very economical to use K&N. If it was paying $3-4 a filter I would stick with paper.
I ran a K&N on my Tacoma for several oil changes and the engine did seem to breathe better. However, my iron wear rate was 2 ppm/1000 miles during that time. Since then I have switched back to the OEM Toyota pape filter and my iron has dropped in the last two analyses to 1.2 ppm/1000 miles. It has done this even though I ran a 5w-20 and a 0w-20 synthetic on my last two oil changes, instead of the Amsoil 0w-30 or 5w-30.
If you race and re-build the motor every season, a K&N is great. But I'd have to side with my friend George Morrison on this one - and he's looked at tens of thousands of oil analysis results. Owners of large truck fleets depend on George to know what he's talking about. I would certainly listen carefully to the things he says ....
Ted K.
Dixie Synthetics
If you race and re-build the motor every season, a K&N is great. But I'd have to side with my friend George Morrison on this one - and he's looked at tens of thousands of oil analysis results. Owners of large truck fleets depend on George to know what he's talking about. I would certainly listen carefully to the things he says ....
Ted K.
Dixie Synthetics
We have seen many good UOA's with K&N air filters, so I don't think that they will automatically raise your wear rates a significant amount. A UOA on my camry showed 1.35ppm per k of iron with a K&N. And the engine regularly sees redline, due to the little lady's right foot...........and the fact that it is a toyota, which means that you have to redline it, to keep up with a bicycle.
One of my housemates has a Blitz(sp?) filter on the intake on his accord. It's an oiled cotton gauze filter as well. His FE numbers come to an average of about 1.8ppm per k. This is well within any specs necessary for long engine life.
--Matt
--Matt
I have had good si numbers along with wear numbers for two uoas in a row. I cleaned my KN at the beginning of the first interval. It doesnt look like it got better with time, it just worked fine to begin with.
I think it is worth it just because it will last the life of the car. Tuners acknowledge a very slight increase in power (like less than 5whp peak) using a drop in filter in the wrx.
So for me it adds a tiny bit of power, is cheaper over the life of the car, and performs perfectly.
http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=001178
I think it is worth it just because it will last the life of the car. Tuners acknowledge a very slight increase in power (like less than 5whp peak) using a drop in filter in the wrx.
So for me it adds a tiny bit of power, is cheaper over the life of the car, and performs perfectly.
http://theoildrop.server101.com/ubb/ultimatebb.php?ubb=get_topic;f=3;t=001178
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